Slipper wants more from Wallabies
Talking to the leader of a young Wallabies pack after his 100th Test James Slipper says he wants the Wallabies to improve on the 53% winning percentage against the All Blacks.
Although his night was short lived at Suncorp Stadium (he was forced off with a dislocated elbow) the pain was dulled somewhat for the 31 year old by the exciting 24-22 win over the All Blacks after posting a draw and two comprehensive losses in the first three games.
The former Queensland Reds captain is coming back into his best form since being booted out of Ballymore in 2018 for two positive drug tests.
When asked, he said he was absolutely flattered by the multitude of well wishes that were sent to him in a “really special week”.
“Short story, no, when you set out – I’m sitting next to Tom Wright now who’s debuted – you never think about playing 100 Tests,” the prop said.
“I had some twists and turns and am very surprised that I’ve actually made it here, but at the end of the day I really want to win.
“One hundred is good but winning is better and we need to do more of that.”
In Dave Rennie’s first four matches in charge he’s already featured 10 new faces in his teams with just an average age of 22 and Slipper, who has at least two more seasons in Canberra is confident that he can play a major role after regaining his starting status.
“I’ve enjoyed my last two years in Canberra, seeing players like Tommy (Wright) come in, (Lachie) Swinton, (Angus Bell) Belly,” Slipper said.
“Direction wise, I’m really excited and we’ve just got to be more consistent, not leave it until the last game of a series, a dead rubber, to win.”
This win was Australia’s seventh straight at Suncorp Stadium which has become a bit of a fortress for the Wallabies and making it two wins, a draw and a narrow one point loss against New Zealand in their past five games at the stadium.
Sadly, their form away from Brisbane just hasn’t matched that but the win on Saturday was enough to keep them just in front of Scotland at no.6 in the world rankings.
As they build towards the 2023 World Cup Australian Captain, Michael Hooper said it was imperative that they keep this in mind.
“It’s a good start isn’t it, for them and we want to make that the norm,” he said.
“We make no bones about where we want to go as a team and those guys are going to be a big driving factor in that.
“So bottling that feeling of pushing each other and demanding more out of each other and vice versa from the top down is going to be important to go where we want to go.”
WALLABIES DEBUTANTS IN FOUR GAMES UNDER DAVE RENNIE
* Harry Wilson (20), Hunter Paisami (22), Filipo Daugunu (25), Noah Lolesio (20), Irae Simone (25), Tate McDermott (22), Fraser McReight (21), Lachie Swinton (23), Tom Wright (23), Angus Bell (20).
